A retrospective survey was performed on 919 cases of equine fetal spontaneous abortion and stillbirth in the Hidaka district of Hokkaido, collected from April 1999 to March 2000, and the relationships between the causes and gestational age were examined. The cases of abortion and stillbirth were divided into non-infectious, infectious and undetermined causes, in order of decreasing frequency. In the non-infectious cases, failure of the circulation between the umbilical vessels and the fetus and excessive torsion of the umbilical cord were prevalent, and in the latter, the fetus tended to have a longer umbilical cord. Many of the abortions due to infection were caused by equine rhinopneumonitis virus or Aspergillus sp. During the early months of gestation (2-5), non-infectious and undetermined cases accounted for 48.3%(29/60) and 40.0%(24/60), respectively. During the middle months (6-9), non-infectious cases predominated, accounting for 64.9%(429/661). During the late months (10-12), 38.9%(74/190) of cases were non-infectious, whereas 33.7%(64/190) were infectious.

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A combination of external-pin fixation and superoxidized-water lavage used to treat a male calf with a severe open fracture accompanied by bone loss and infection resulted in callus formation and a cure 3 months after therapy started. External-pin fixation was effective in this case because it provides a firm fix and permits open lavage. Continuous superoxidized-water lavage suppressed further infection. This suggests the importance of adequate lavage in cases of infected open fractures.

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After experiencing dystocia, a female Chihuahua first delivered three puppies. Subsequent X-ray examination revealed two extrauterine mummified fetuses. No further treatment was conducted, and she became pregnant again at the second estrus following the first delivery. X-ray examination conducted at the later stage of pregnancy revealed the two mummified fetuses plus four normal fetuses. The entire uterus and the ovaries were removed for the sake of extracting the normal fetuses. The mummified fetuses were also extracted from the abdominal cavity. Histological findings showed evidence of rupture at the top of the right uterus. X-ray examination of the mummified fetuses showed that their skeletons matched those of a fetus at the last stage of pregnancy. These results suggest that the fetuses passed through the rupture in the uterus prior to dystocia and remained mummified within the abdomen for a long time. The second pregnancy indicated that the uterus had recovered from the tear.

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Primary symptoms of sneezing and nasal bleeding, and histopathological findings of an intranasal biopsy specimen suggested aspergillosis in an outdoor-raising Golden Retriever, although neither culture nor PCR of biopsy samples detected any fungi. Nonetheless, local infusion of clotrimazole greatly improved purulent nasal discharge. We therefore diagnosed this case aspergillosis. This case suggests the impossibility of detecting nasal aspergillosis on the basis of a fungal culture or PCR of multiple biopsy samples.

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A 2-year-old female miniature dachshund had an 8-month-history of coughing and abnormally lifting her right forelimb. The owner reported that the bitch had eaten grilled chicken with bamboo skewers and had vomited them up before the onset of clinical signs. We therefore suspected ingestion of a skewer. Computed tomography (CT) revealed something like a bamboo skewer extending from the right lung to the right axillary region. Once the object had been removed by means of an intercostal approach, clinical signs disappeared.

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Oral examination of a Chihuahua dog (female, 3 years old) revealed swelling of the gingiva between the distal side of the canine and the mesial side of the third premolar in the left mandible. Parchment crepitation of the swelling was palpable. The tooth crown of the second premolar was buried in the swelling. Radiographic examination confirmed the radiolucence of the lesion, its clear boundary, and the first and second premolars within in it, the root of the latter had been absorpted. These findings suggested the lesion to be a cyst. The gingiva was incised, and the first and second premolars were extracted. Afterwards, the cyst wall was exfoliated from the gingival mucosa and the mandibular bone; and the cyst was macroscopically removed. After cyst extirpation, the bone surface was curetted with a hand scaler and volatilized with a semiconductor laser. Histopathologically, the cystic lesion was diagnosed as radicular cyst (apical cyst) with chronic active inflammation. No recurrence had occurred 6 months after the operation. Bone curettage and laser volatilization after surgical cyst extirpation appear to be effective radical treatments for dental radicular cyst.

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The color of the renal lobe of one kidney in a slaughtered pig had faded, and its cortex and medulla were thin. In histological terms, primitive tubules surrounded by a loose mesenchymatous stroma and scattered immature glomeruli were found in the lesion. Immature mesenchymatous cells had proliferated in the stroma. These morphological features led to a diagnosis of porcine focal segmental renal dysplasia.

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